by Laurel Duggan, The Daily Caller:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan requested $375 million and 265 new full-time employees to promote “environmental justice” in his Wednesday testimony to the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works while defending the agency’s budget.

The EPA established the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (EJECR) in September and is now seeking a cash influx to expand those efforts through support for community organizations, according to Regan. About one-third of the funding would go into grants to outside groups, and the newly proposed budget would approximately double the agency’s funding for civil rights issues.